Tick Tock
by pandasxpocky
Summary: Add together a dead fiance plus FTBI's most wanted criminal just turned himself in, and slap on top of that a killer on the loose. What could possibly go wrong? AU-ish and eventual NaLu


Hello everyone! I am back with a new story, and I think this one is here to stay! So, like always, read and be a darling and drop by a review.

Disclaimer: I. Don't. Own. Fairy Tail. Don't rub it in my face, Mashima.

Lucy sighed, distraught. She folded her delicate, well, maybe not-so-delicate, hands into her lap and leaned forward until her forehead tapped against the steering wheel of her car. She closed her eyes and sighed, she was certainly a sad, sad woman, wasn't she? She couldn't go home, not with everything that had happened last night. She winced, remembering the harsh words she and Sting had exchanged. Why wouldn't she call him a cheater, after he came home drunk to the high heavens and lipstick stains all over him? Lucy straightened up in the front seat and clenched her fists; she would not let just one argument ruin a whole engagement. No, she would go in and fix everything.

"I'm back!" Lucy sang with a forced cheeriness. Silence greeted her. "Sting?" she called to the dark, empty hallway.

Lucy blinked in surprise, what was going on? Normally, the lacrima television would be blaring with some random show or sports game that Sting liked to watch. What was going on?

Lucy tiptoed quietly into the den and spotted Sting's bulky figure lying sideways on the couch. Lucy smiled fondly and called to him, "Get up silly, it's not even eight yet, why are you sleeping?"

No response, not even the twitch of a muscle.

Lucy's eyes narrowed slightly, was he purposely ignoring her? She marched up to the light switch flicked it on, whipped around and shouted, "Sting! Get your la-" She froze, her eyes expanding to the size of half-dollars.

He was drenched in blood, thick, clotted blood, all over him and the couch. "_Sting_?" Lucy whispered, unable to believe what she was seeing.

She shook her head furiously, "No, you're not dead. You were fine just last night. Come on, get up!" Lucy laid a trembling hand on Sting's shoulder, and she all she felt was a cold, firm shoulder. Lucy snatched her hand away like something had burned her and looked down at her hand. It was covered with red.

Lucy fell to her knees, clutching her head muttering, "It's just a dream, nothing's wrong, nothing is wrong, he's just sleeping and trying to fool you."

But no, Lucy realized, Sting Eucliffe, her fiancé of three years was dead, murdered right in his own home.

\

"Woah, woah, hold up. You're saying Sting was murdered!?" Gray asked incredulously.

Lucy nodded simply, not looking up, blonde hair covering her beautiful face. Gray sighed and ran a hand through his fine, raven-black hair, "Damn, this is more serious than I thought. And you were employed here how many weeks ago?"

"Three," Lucy muttered.

Gray rolled his eyes, "That wasn't a question." Lucy glared at him and punched him lightly in the shoulder.

Lucy sighed deeply, "It just makes no sense to me that this would happen. Who would ever want to want to murder Sting? I mean come on, he might've been a little cocky at times, but this?"

Gray nodded in understanding, "I get where you're coming from, but I can say that no one from Fairy Tail ever approved of you having him as a fiancé."

Lucy was silent for a moment before whispering, horrified, "Do you think that anyone from Fairy Tail could've done this?"

Gray looked like he was about to answer when Gajeel suddenly burst into the room, panting and shouting, "Come to the first floor, and hurry your asses! I'll explain as we're going down!"

As Lucy, Gray, and Gajeel sprinted down the stairs, skipping a step or two every time, Gajeel slowly fed them chopped-up pieces of his story, "I was sitting in the lobby downstairs when all these alarms started ringin', and I thought, 'What the hell?' and it turns out that that bastard Salamander came back."

Lucy and Gray suddenly stopped running and turned to Gajeel, shock clearly written all over their faces.

Gajeel held up his huge, calloused hands and said, "I know, it seems pretty damn hard to believe, but it's true."

Gray growled slowly, "So, Natsu's back. Where the hell is he?"

Gajeel smirked, "Titania beat the shit outta him and took him down to the holding cells."

Gray nodded, satisfied. Lucy, however, wasn't so triumphant. She swallowed hard, Natsu was back? Why would he come back, especially after so long?

Gray glanced at Lucy, noticing her discomfort, "Hey, Lucy, you okay over there?"

Lucy quickly nodded and plastered a fake smile onto her face and said with false cheer, "Yep, I'm fine! Don't you worry about me, c'mon, let's keep going."

Gray looked unsure for a moment, but Gajeel had already started to run forward. Gray grinned at Lucy and grabbed her hand and pulled her forward.

/

"Why are you back, Natsu?"

Natsu glanced up at the speaker, only to be greeted with Erza's cold eyes. Natsu smirked and said nothing.

Erza gritted her teeth and ground out, "I swear, Natsu, I will do whatever it takes to get information out of you, even if I have to force it out of you."

Natsu finally said in a low but confident tone, "Really, Erza. You think you can defeat me, even after I almost killed you the last time? Do you remember, do you?"

The almighty Titania froze and turned away, so that Natsu couldn't see her face anymore, "Natsu, what happened to you?"

"I found people better than Fairy Tail. People who could offer me better than Fairy Tail ever did."

Suddenly, the door burst open and in ran Gray, Lucy, and Gajeel. Natsu grinned wolfishly; this was working out just as he'd planned.

Gray marched right up to the bulletproof holding cell that contained the pink-haired fire user and slammed a strong fist against it, "What the fuck are you doing back here."

Gray's voice was cold, just like his magic, and his anger was so tangible that the air around him felt so thick that Lucy felt like she could literally cut it with a knife.

Natsu pouted, "Aw come on Gray, aren't you happy to see me back?"

"No, if anything, I would kick you into Hell at first chance."

To any other outsider of the FTBI, this may have seemed like some random fight. But it wasn't, Lucy knew better than that. Lucy leaned against the frigid wall behind her and wrapped her arms around herself. She shivered, feeling scared for the first time since hearing the news about Natsu's return.

Natsu suddenly looked up, as he smelled a familiar scent.

"Luce, are you there?" he asked, brightening considerably.

Lucy swallowed the hard lump in her throat and squeaked out, "Y-yeah, I'm here."

Natsu gave a face-splitting grin, canines and all, and said, "Perfect! Well, now that you're here, I can talk."

He faced Gray and Erza and stated with finality, "I speak to Lucy, answer to Lucy, and only Lucy. Understand? Okay, then we shouldn't have too many problems."

He turned to Gajeel and smirked slightly, "And I also have information that may be… Crucial, let's say, to the FTBI, and only I have this information."

Natsu turned his attention back to Lucy and stared deeply into her eyes, "I also know who was killed and who killed them."

A/N: Hey everyone! Haha… I'm sorry if this story is a bit confusing, I totally understand if you have no idea where this is going. Guess what? I don't either. What I can tell you though, is that this story is AU-ish. All the characters are in modern-day Fiore and are in the FTBI, and the agents know how to use magic. Also, Lucy had just come to the FTBI only a little while ago, so she's still a rookie. Okay, hopefully I'll find some other time to update XD K! Remember to leave a review!

~Panda


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